Machine for continuous printing from tracings and the like



Sept. 13, 1932. T 1,876,741

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS PRINTING FROM TRACINGS AND THE LIKE Filed April5, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 13, 1932. L. PETIT 1,876,741

momma FOR com'muous PRINTING FROM TRACINGS AND THE LIKE Filed April 5,1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. PETIT Sept. 13, 1932.

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS PRINTING FROM TRACINGS AND THE LIKE Filed April5, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 13, 1932.

L. PETIT MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS PRINTING FROM TRACINGS AND THE LIKEFiled April 5, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 13, 1932. p rr 1,876,741

MACHINE FOR CONTINUOUS PRINTING FROM TRACINGS AND THE LIKE Filed April5, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I 26 I I 25. 1 l F T rx x I I k 43/ I l '39 37%I 2/ IQ I I9 N Patented Sept. 13, 1932 PATENT OFFICE LOUIS PETI'I', OFPARIS, FRANCE MACHINE FOB CONTINUOUS PRINTING FROM TBACINGS AND THE LIKEApplication filed April 5, 1928, Serial No. 267,571, and. in Trance Kay26, 1927.

Existing machines for continuous printing do not allow correctpaying-out of the paper to be printed over all the length of a roller,since one side .of the paper is usually soon li carried against the sideof the machine. This fault is mainly due to the fact that in thesemachines, the starting of the paper has to be effected by hand andsubstantially always in a manner causing warping of the sheet diificultto nullify; thecutting of the pa er is also an operation which cannot bee ected correctly during movement; finally, the illumination is providedby lamps with variable movement, the movement of which causesconsiderable slowing near the dead-points, from which result losses intime and illumination.

For these various reasons the functioning of these machines is veryinferior to that required and their operation can only be confided toexpert hands.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine allowingregular passage of paper of great size on the whole length of largerollers and the obtention of continuous printing by reason of theobviation of the above-mentioned disadvantages. It comprises mechanismsfor the movement of the paper and the cutting, which allow easy andcorrect execution of these operations by anyone. It comprises also meansfor the continuous displacement of the lamps, the movement of which maybe limited according to the size of the paper used, and is effected at aconstant speed without objectionable slowing at the ends of the travel.

The annexed figures show by way of example two forms of construction ofthe invention; Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a vertical machine, whileFig. .2 shows on an enlarged scale the cutting and feed mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the cutting mechanism.

Fig. 4.- is a transverse view of the lateral adjusting means for thepaper.

Fig. 5 is a section of a horizontal machine, Fig. 6 representing on alarger scale the cutting anddriving mechanism.

1 is the frame of the machine, and 2 is a curved glass on the peripheryof which slides an endless band 3, adapted to run over rollers 4, 4, 4",of which the firstis suitably driven.

When the paper to be printed is brought between the glass 2 and theendless band 3 (an operation effected mechanically and described indetail hereinafter) and is caught by the latter, the transparentnegatives are introduced between the endless band andspring plate 5 tocarry the sensitized paper on to the periphery o' the glass 2 to receivethe light from the lamp or lamps arranged in the interior of the glass2, and not shown in the drawings. It should be noted that the rollers 4and 4: are so arranged as to ensure constant contact of the endless band3 on the whole of the surface of the glass 2, and that the spring plate5, tangential to the roller 4", allows free driving of the tracing ornegative on the whole line of contact of the plate on the moving band.

When the sensitized paper and the negative commence to issue from thelower edge of the glass the operator raises the partition 6 into theposition 6', seizes the extremity of the sensitized paper to carry thesame on to the reel 7, whilst the negative or negatives is or aretemporarily retained in the position 8, whence they fall into theposition 9 only after the lowering of the partition 6.

The printed paper coming from the endless band is carried on to the hub7 for engagement between the two half-round bars forming the same, andis there caught at its periphery by the rubbered roller 10, which isdriven from the motor, the hub 7 being merely guided in lateral guides(not shown) and hearing by gravity on the driving roller 10.

The mounting of the roll of pa er to be printed, represented at 11, ifeffects by placing the same on a shaft 12, forming a mandrel, and islaterally guided thereon by the sides 13. The whole is placed intheblocks 14, 14', arranged on each side of the machine, and subjectedon the one hand to the action of a spring 15, and on the other hand tothe actionof a screw 16, which allows the paper to be printed to haveits movement laterally regulated at any instant.

Correct tension of the paper unrolled is ensured by a. wiper 17, whoseaction is re ulable by an adjustable counterweight 18.

en the roll is in place it is only necessary for the operator to bringthe end of the sheet between the roller 4" and the driving mechanism,the first element of which is constituted by the press roll 19, normallyheld at a small distance from the roller 4" and the endless band.

The press roller 19 is provided with rubber discs 20, between which arelodged the ends of gides 21, placed so that the sheet is caused, whenintroduced between the fixed block 22 and the cutting blade 23, to comeinto the position 24, where it is acted upon by the wedge 25. The wedge25 is guided at its ends in the slots 26 of the guides 27, and is drivenby means of rods 28 from the levers 29 (provided with a handle 30 andheld in a mi dle position (position shown in dotted lines in Figs. 2-6)by springs 31, 31, acting on the lever 29.

When, in the form of construction shown in Fig. 2, the handle 30 israised, the levers 29 act on the wedge 25 and raise the same into theposition 25. On continuing the raising movement of the handle, the lever29 is given a further movement, the axes 32 sliding in the grooves 33 ofthe rods 28 while stressing the spring 34, and this supplementarymovement allows the ends 35 of the levers 29' to act on the ramps 36 ofthe cranked levers 3?, to cause the press roller 19 to bear on theendless band 3, which latter is driven in the sense of the arrow a. Thepaper is consequently driven and its end is caused to 00- cupy theposition 24. At this instant, the upward movement of the handle 30 isterminated, so that the paper is no longer driven, the wedge beingbrought into the position 25, to fold before it the end of the paper.The downward action of the handle 30 causes the wedge to he pushedbetween the spring plate 5 and the endless band 3 (position 25") which,from this moment, clamps the folded paper on the end of the wedge 25 andcommences to drive the same towards the glass 2. The actuation of thehandle is then finished and the wedge returns to the position 25, toallow introduction of the negatives between the moving paper and thespring plate.

In this movement of the paper, the latter is turned round the exteriorof the fixed block 22, on which it slides freely. It should be notedthat this block is provided with a oove 38 with rounded edges in whichis lodged the cutting wire 39, stretched between the arms 40 of thelever 41, and the tension of which is ensured by a spring blade 42 (Fig.3).

When the end of the last negative to be printed reaches on the plate 43a mark conveniently placed (at 44, for example) the lever 41 is movedrapidly upwards to bring the levers 40 into the position 40. (Fig. 2).

wire 39 returns into its recess, and the whole of themechanism is readyto be started again for the same procedure.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the arran ement ofthe parts is slightly different, the wedge 25 being arranged so thatwhen it reaches the position 25, it acts by its rear end on the ends 36of the levers 37 carrying the press roll 19. It thus allows passage ofthe sheet between the fixed block 22 and the cutting blade 23 to reachposition 24, in which the wedge 25 is adapted to fold it and carry itbetween the spring plate 5 and the endless band 3 when the lever 30 isactuated in the direction I). The cutting lever 41 carrying the cuttingwire 39 is actuated in the direction 0, to obtain the same effect asthat previously described.

The displacement of the lamp or lamps (not shown) is obtained by meansof a cord passing to one end of the machine on a pulley 45 and returnpulleys 46. On the other side of the machine, the cord is carried over apulley 47.

On the shaft 48 of the pulley 45 is fixed a pinion 49 engaging in amovable rack 50, whose end is pivoted at 51 to a lever 52, itselfpivoted at 53 to a rod 54, terminated by a toothed extension 55 engaginga pinion 56, causing continuous reciprocating movement withoutappreciable slowing at the ends of the stroke. The lever 52 itselfcarries an extended part 57, toothed on one side, in which engages apinion 58 also meshing with a fixed member 57 of similar form. Thepinion 58 is adapted to be rotatably displaced to vary the point ofoscillation of the lever 52, and consequently to vary the movement ofthe rack 51 and the cord 59, without altering the nature of themovement, which is always continuous, and without appreciable slowingdown at the ends of the stroke. The pinion 56 is keyed to a shaft 60which is driven by a wheel 61 and worm 62 from a motor 63, and transmitsmovement by means of a train of pinions 64, and a shaft 65, to theroller 4 driving the endless band 3.

The connection between the shaft 65 and the roller 4 is obtained from amovable member 66, sliding on the shaft 65 and carrying two pinions thatengage on opposite sides of a toothed wheel 67, keyed to the roller 4.

The longitudinal movement of the member (36 is obtained from a lever 68,provided with a fork 69. It is thus possible to correct a falsemovement, without altering the movement of the lam or lamps.

It is to be an erstood that the constructional arrangements indicated inthe embodiments above described are only given by way of example. Themovement of the paper and the cutting thereof, in particular, have beenshown, for the sake of clearness, as provided with separate controlmeans, but it is evident that these may be formed by a single drivemember with the necessary combined movement. Many other variations ofconstruc tion can be imagined without exceeding the scope of thecharacteristics of the invention clauned below.

lVhat I claim is 1. A machine for continuous photographic printing whichcomprises a supporting frame, a supply roll mounted within said framefor rotatably holding a roll of photographic printing paper, means forbraking said supply roll when a roll of sensitized paper is carriedthereon, printing means having a glass surface, an endless driving bandrunning in contact with said glass surface and having an inlet adjacentto said roll for printing paper, and automatic feeding mechanism locatedin the proximity of said inlet for feeding the sensitized paper acrossthe entire width thereof from said supply roll to said endless drivingbelt.

2. A machine for continuous photographic printing which comprises asuporting frame, a supply roll mounted within said frame for rotatablyholding a roll of photographic printing paper,printing means having aglass surface, an endless driving band running in contact with saidglass surface and having an inlet adjacent to said roll for printingpaper, automatic feeding mechanism located in the proximity of saidinlet for feeding the sensitized paper across the entire width thereoffrom said supply roll to said endless driving belt and a cutting devicefor cutting the sensitized paper at the inlet of said endless hand, saiddevice consisting of a wire, a housing for said wire, and a fixed knifedisposed on the other side of the paper to be cut, the arrangement beingsuch that the cutting movement of the wire is effected along the lengthof the knife to effect cutting at the edges thereof.

3. A machine for continuous photographic printing which comprises asuporting frame, a su ply roll mounted within said frame for rotatablyholding a roll of photographic printing paper, printing means having aglass surface, an endless driving band running in contact with saidglass surface and having an inlet adjacent to said roll for printingpaper, and automatic feeding mechanism located in the proximity of saidinlet for feeding the sensitized paper across the entire width thereoffrom said sup ly roll to said endless driving belt, said feedingmechanism including a feed bar of wedge shape type mounted transverselyof the sensitized paper and arranged so that during the feed movement ofthe bar the free end of the paper is folded and introduced over thewhole of its width under the driving band.

4. A machine as set forth'in claim 3 in which the feed bar acts betweena driving roller of said endless driving band.

5. A machine as set forth in claim 3 in which starting mechanism is soarranged as to allow momentary advance of the end of the paper to bringthe same into the correct ,POSItlOD before the feed bar operates.

6 A machine as set forth in claim 2 in wh1ch the paper passes during thestarting operation within a cutting device constituted by a fixed knife,and a recessed block in which reposes a tensioned wire, the wire beingmovable towards the fixed knife to cut the paper symmetrically.

7 A machine as set forth in claim 3 in which the starting mechanism andthe feed mechanism for the paper are controlled by a single member.

8. machine for continuous photographic pr nt ng, comprising a supportingframe, printing means having a glass surface, a supply roll mountedwithin the frame, an endless driving belt running in contact with saldglass surface, and having an inlet adjacent to said roll for theinsertion of printing paper, automatic paper mechanism adjacent to saidinlet, and automatic feeding mechanism for feeding the paper across theentire width thereof from said supply roll to said driving belt andfeeding means, including a pressure roller positively movable to and outof contact with the roll and a feed bar to direct the paper into contactwith the driving belt.

9. A machine of the character described and as claimed in claim 8,provided with a cutting device for severing paper from the rolll itsentire width, at the inlet to the endless be t.

10. A machine of the character described comprising, in combination asupporting frame, printing means having a glass surface, an endlessdriving belt contacting with said glass surface. a supply roll mountedon said supporting frame, a pressure roll moving positively intoand outof contact with said roll, a stationary block over which the paper fromthe roll is carried, cutting means assoc ated with said block, and afeed bar operable to direct paper from the roll toward the driving belt.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 8, inwhich the supply roll is mountedon a shaft carried by laterally adjustable supports, the supply rollbeing held by means adjustable according to the width of the rollemployed.

12. A machine for continuous photographic printing which comprises asupply roll for pa er, an endless hand runnin over a glass sur ace andmechanism for feeding of paper from the roll to the endless band, saidmechanism including means for folding the paper and introducing it overits whole surface to the endless band.

13. A machine as set forth in claim 12, and including a wiper whichcontacts with the paper on the supply roll, and an adjustablecounterweight controlling the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification this21st day of LOUIS PETIT.

March, 1928.

